Step 7: Video of all the steps

Step 8: Boot to it!

Stick your USB drive into your test computer and boot to it. You may need to change your boot priority in the BIOS. Some systems have an option to pre...

USB drives have become a ubiquitous commodity. Many people have one and some carry their USB drive on their keychain. This provides easy access to handy data such as passwords, games, photos, etc. VistaPE is the preinstall environment for the installation of Windows Vista. When you first boot to a Vista DVD, the GUI screen you see during installation is VistaPE. It was designed for use on DVD's and USB drives. It provides a graphical environment using a small amount of resources. It's very flexible in that you can add components to provide additional features.Having a VistaPE bootable USB drive has some additional advantages:

- Familiar interface where you can run Windows programs- Browse the Internet without leaving a trace on the host PC- Remove undeleteable spyware and viruses- Flash the BIOS in a clean environment- Diagnose computer problems

Being able to remove spyware and viruses is an incredible handy ability. You should be able to remove all of those problems since they won't be able to start automatically. I've used mine many times to get rid of nasty viruses on other peoples computers.

Step 1: Copy Vista to the HDD

Copy the contents of the Vista install DVD to your HDD. This speeds up the whole process. Alternately, you can use the Windows AIK, though you will have reduced features. I recommend using the Vista DVD files.

If you're using the WAIK, you need to burn the image to a DVD, then install it. You'll use the installed directory (usually C:\Program Files\Windows AIK) as the Vista file location.

I'm getting another error: IF - unrecognized clause: [c:\windows\syswow64]. evaluated string: [If,ExistDir ,"%WindowsDir%\SysWOW64",Set,%SysType%,"amd64"]I'm on 64 bit windows 7 and am installing from the WAIK. Does anyone know how to make this work?

hey um... your link doesnt work, you tutorial has been great, but im still haveing issues with mine, i think it was because im using a 64bit vista, im going to try the AIK soon. once i can download 1gb.....

Make sure you click the Server button and put a checkbox by VistaPE.net/project. Then click download. It will then download the scripts necessary to start the creation process. I just ran the latest build and was able to download the scripts. UPX is a different, but similar boot project. Looks like it's LiveXP based rather than the newer, more compatible VistaPE environment.

I see I'm not the only one where lack of USB support has been a roadblock. I hope someone knows the answer and would care to share. I've read a fair amount about "injecting drivers" to a PE install, but I just don't have the time to dedicate to becoming a PE expert for my one little need.

You must have one hell of a flashdrive o_0. Use GRUB boot loader once you figure out how to get all of them on there. Just my $0.10 worth. Then make an instructable on how to do it :D. GG, EaglesNestOne